Resolved Carry iMac around?

[ThatSomeone]

Hello everyone, I hope your week started off great so far!

As the title suggest, is there a good way to carry the 27" between different locations? I just bought a new rMBP 15", I love it so far but I have it stationary 100% of the time I use it and I thought an iMac would be better, although the convenience with the rMBP is that I can carry it between 2 locations which are a 2 min drive from each other every week without issues. But I'd rather sacrofise that little convenience and pay a little more for full desktop performance rather than having an MacBook where the battery(which I don't even use) is more prioritized than performance.. I'm not planning on getting one soon, but if the 2016 rMBP isn't appealing enough I'd rather get an iMac.

So in conclusion, does anyone know of any bags and/or tricks to safely move it between these locations once a week?

Thanks!

 

[DeltaMac]

The simplest solution is to keep the box that your iMac shipped in.
It's got foam packing materials that survive the trip from the factory to you, including spaces for keyboard, power cord, etc.
Your short trips will work very well with that original box.

 

[ThatSomeone]

The simplest solution is to keep the box that your iMac shipped in.
It's got foam packing materials that survive the trip from the factory to you, including spaces for keyboard, power cord, etc.
Your short trips will work very well with that original box.

Thanks for the reply!

Is it easy to stuff it back in again, and will it require taping again? I plan to use other peripherals rather than the ones shipped with the iMac(Or maybe I'll get the Force Trackpad). Do you think they'll work too? It's not a problem carrying them in a separate bag though.

 

[DeltaMac]

The standard keyboard on a new iMac is pretty small, so it would depend on which devices you use. You would need to simply try to pack. You quickly see what fits...
I still occasionally see iMacs in something like a canvas pouch or bag, with a nice strap on it for carrying.
Personally, I use that original box, and have a small carrier (right now a plastic organizer about the size of a milk crate (if you know what THAT is ) for external devices, which is a full size microsoft keyboard (I like it!), a gaming-size USB mouse (steel series brand that I was gifted a few years ago - I like the feel), a micro tower with 4 hard drives, and a graphics tablet with stylus for lots of other tasks.
I don't take a lot of time on the iMac box. Just slide in place, put the foam pieces in position, and minimal tape on the top, just to make it secure to carry by the handle.

 

[ThatSomeone]

The standard keyboard on a new iMac is pretty small, so it would depend on which devices you use. You would need to simply try to pack. You quickly see what fits...
I still occasionally see iMacs in something like a canvas pouch or bag, with a nice strap on it for carrying.
Personally, I use that original box, and have a small carrier (right now a plastic organizer about the size of a milk crate (if you know what THAT is ) for external devices, which is a full size microsoft keyboard (I like it!), a gaming-size USB mouse (steel series brand that I was gifted a few years ago - I like the feel), a micro tower with 4 hard drives, and a graphics tablet with stylus for lots of other tasks.
I don't take a lot of time on the iMac box. Just slide in place, put the foam pieces in position, and minimal tape on the top, just to make it secure to carry by the handle.

Ah, thanks for sharing! I too use a SteeSeries mice(since it's wireless and requires a docking station I use it's original package to carry it). For keyboard I heard that the Apple one is quite small, so I might aswell get something like a SteelSeries Apex keyboard. Glad to hear that it's easy to slide it in!

 

[campyguy]

One of my employees shuffles between offices and had the same question. My answer - since I write the checks anyways - was to buy a VESA-mount iMac. There's an arm to mount to in two of the offices, and he carries a light-but-suitable display stand that allows for rotation and height adjustment of a 27" display. Many more options are available for a product the size of an iMac without the fixed stand - and none of them have "iMac inside! - Steal me!" and the Apple logo on the box...

I'm likely going to spring for a 27" iMac after the eventual refresh and that's my plan, and my 2¢...

 

[FRVES]

Check these out. Very well constructed. http://www.ilugger.com

 

[ThatSomeone]

One of my employees shuffles between offices and had the same question. My answer - since I write the checks anyways - was to buy a VESA-mount iMac. There's an arm to mount to in two of the offices, and he carries a light-but-suitable display stand that allows for rotation and height adjustment of a 27" display. Many more options are available for a product the size of an iMac without the fixed stand - and none of them have "iMac inside! - Steal me!" and the Apple logo on the box...

I'm likely going to spring for a 27" iMac after the eventual refresh and that's my plan, and my 2¢...

Hm, that's actually a pretty god idea!

Check these out. Very well constructed. http://www.ilugger.com

Thanks for the tip! Have you used it yourself?

 

[maflynn]

Personally, I don't think its a great to keep moving the iMac, but if you have too, then I do think the ilugger option is probably the best.

 

[ThatSomeone]

Personally, I don't think its a great to keep moving the iMac, but if you have too, then I do think the ilugger option is probably the best.

I had a feeling about it.. But I'm only doing it once a week and it takes ~10 min(from disassembling to reassemble). I might get an gaming rig at the other location and the keep the iMac for work/gaming at the other. Have you used the ilugger option yourself?

 

[maflynn]

But I'm only doing it once a week

I still think you're risking damaging the computer. The iMac is awkwardly weighted and if you keep moving it, I think you may risk damaging it - just my $.02. Would a MacBook or MBA (or even an iPad) fit the needs?

Have you used the ilugger option yourself?

No, but I think a piece of luggage designed to protect the iMac will work best. There's nothing wrong with the original box, but I think over time, the cardboard may start ripping and tearing as you use it.

 

[Fishrrman]

If Apple meant for the 27" iMac to be "carried around", they'd have put a handle on top.

You've got a retina MacBook Pro, right?
I'd be "carrying" that!

Carry on...

 

[ThatSomeone]

I still think you're risking damaging the computer. The iMac is awkwardly weighted and if you keep moving it, I think you may risk damaging it - just my $.02. Would a MacBook or MBA (or even an iPad) fit the needs?


No, but I think a piece of luggage designed to protect the iMac will work best. There's nothing wrong with the original box, but I think over time, the cardboard may start ripping and tearing as you use it.

Ah ok. I already own the 15" rMBP but I never unplug it and use it off battery so I felt like an iMac would be better.

If Apple meant for the 27" iMac to be "carried around", they'd have put a handle on top.

You've got a retina MacBook Pro, right?
I'd be "carrying" that!

Carry on...

I thought the original box had an handle on top of it? It's just that I'm a bit worried about the battery by just doing nothing... Plus it takes up most of the internals where the iMac is purely focused on performance which I'd mucher rather have

 

[campyguy]

Hm, that's actually a pretty god idea!

A tip - stop thinking "bag" or "carrier", and start thinking "flight case".

Flight cases are far more rugged, generally constructed much better, and were built with ham-handed goons in mind. I had a custom flight case made, however, NSF Cases made a custom bag for a few of my friends for their iMacs - NSF is a brand of the Flight Case Company, which made the cases and bags for a band I hang out with. My employee's iMac looks as brand new, and I forgot to mention that we keep a full set of peripherals at the offices - it was more cost-effective to just detach/attach the iMac at the few locations he's at when compared to futzing with every little thing; the only peripheral that travels with him is a Wacom Intuos tablet - he's generally shut down, disconnected, packed up, and out the door in under 5 minutes. Cheers!

 

[Dksiazek]

Hm, that's actually a pretty god idea!



Thanks for the tip! Have you used it yourself?

I had an iLugger for my 21.5" iMac. Build quality was excellent and it protected my machine well. I used it all the time in college bringing my computer home. Held up much better than the box would have.

 

[ThatSomeone]

A tip - stop thinking "bag" or "carrier", and start thinking "flight case".

Flight cases are far more rugged, generally constructed much better, and were built with ham-handed goons in mind. I had a custom flight case made, however, NSF Cases made a custom bag for a few of my friends for their iMacs - NSF is a brand of the Flight Case Company, which made the cases and bags for a band I hang out with. My employee's iMac looks as brand new, and I forgot to mention that we keep a full set of peripherals at the offices - it was more cost-effective to just detach/attach the iMac at the few locations he's at when compared to futzing with every little thing; the only peripheral that travels with him is a Wacom Intuos tablet - he's generally shut down, disconnected, packed up, and out the door in under 5 minutes. Cheers!

Sounds nice, thanks for letting me know! Well if I bought such a expensive machine I'd sure like to keep it safe.
Having multiple stands at the different locations sounds pretty good aswell.

I had an iLugger for my 21.5" iMac. Build quality was excellent and it protected my machine well. I used it all the time in college bringing my computer home. Held up much better than the box would have.

I'll check if anyone here sells them!

 

[maflynn]

Ah ok. I already own the 15" rMBP but I never unplug it and use it off battery so I felt like an iMac would be better.

I believe you're over-thinking things, and in fact your laptop is a better tool for the job. Its been designed to be mobile, the iMac has not. Again, why risk such an expensive product, or spend lots of money in an attempt to solve a problem that you don't have. You can just use your laptop.

 

[varian55zx]

is there a good way to carry the 27" between different locations

no. no there's not. Unless you buy one of the cases online for it. It's literally the only way.

 

[Thevideoguy2]

Hello everyone, I hope your week started off great so far!

As the title suggest, is there a good way to carry the 27" between different locations? I just bought a new rMBP 15", I love it so far but I have it stationary 100% of the time I use it and I thought an iMac would be better, although the convenience with the rMBP is that I can carry it between 2 locations which are a 2 min drive from each other every week without issues. But I'd rather sacrofise that little convenience and pay a little more for full desktop performance rather than having an MacBook where the battery(which I don't even use) is more prioritized than performance.. I'm not planning on getting one soon, but if the 2016 rMBP isn't appealing enough I'd rather get an iMac.

So in conclusion, does anyone know of any bags and/or tricks to safely move it between these locations once a week?

Thanks!

Well what about a Mac MINI then? small box with a lot of power mmm, maybe more than an iMac anyways.
The way to pack it with an extra flat 24" inch screen you ready to go. This will be my choice instead an iMac.

 

[ThatSomeone]

I believe you're over-thinking things, and in fact your laptop is a better tool for the job. Its been designed to be mobile, the iMac has not. Again, why risk such an expensive product, or spend lots of money in an attempt to solve a problem that you don't have. You can just use your laptop.

I could be. I'm working with web development and designing, would be pretty nice to have a big iMac to have a larger development enviroment. And the resolution... I'd never think of coding/designing a site with low quality JPG and PNGs again and rather use SVG, the resolution of the rMBP tought me that
I could of course buy a 5k monitor, but that's almost just as much as the iMac itself
One smaller thing is that I game too and the iMac has the best graphics(except for the Mac Pro but that's way too expensive) and it'd be pretty nice to have that.

no. no there's not. Unless you buy one of the cases online for it. It's literally the only way.

That's what I figured...

Well what about a Mac MINI then? small box with a lot of power mmm, maybe more than an iMac anyways.
The way to pack it with an extra flat 24" inch screen you ready to go. This will be my choice instead an iMac.

The mini would be nice, but it's rarely updated and has worse hardware than the rMBP 15"...

 

[Thevideoguy2]

I could be. I'm working with web development and designing, would be pretty nice to have a big iMac to have a larger development enviroment. And the resolution... I'd never think of coding/designing a site with low quality JPG and PNGs again and rather use SVG, the resolution of the rMBP tought me that
I could of course buy a 5k monitor, but that's almost just as much as the iMac itself
One smaller thing is that I game too and the iMac has the best graphics(except for the Mac Pro but that's way too expensive) and it'd be pretty nice to have that.



That's what I figured...



The mini would be nice, but it's rarely updated and has worse hardware than the rMBP 15"...

Well I have not a single problem with my which is running the latest OS.
my is a 2.8 GHZ D Core I5, 8 gigs RAM, 1 Terabyte of HD space which I don't use it because all saved on NAS hard drives.

 

[ThatSomeone]

Well I have not a single problem with my which is running the latest OS.
my is a 2.8 GHZ D Core I5, 8 gigs RAM, 1 Terabyte of HD space which I don't use it because all saved on NAS hard drives.

A family member of mine used to have one, really nice but Apple doesn't sell any retina displays.. I'm absolotely stumbled over how high-res it is! When I got the rMBP 2 months ago I couldn't stop being impressed by how well sites and UI/UX designs looked on the retina screen..

 

[turbineseaplane]

I saw a 21" iMac at my local Starbucks the other morning...

hilarious...haha

 

[ThatSomeone]

I saw a 21" iMac at my local Starbucks the other morning...

hilarious...haha

Could it possibly be this fella?

 

[michaelz]

Get two iMacs !!! Lol.